Flanagan: Deal between Fall River, Foxwoods to be announced Tuesday

Mayor Will Flanagan said casino developer would invest $750 million in the project, which would include a 140,000-square-foot gaming floor and amenities.

Jo C. Goode Herald News Staff Reporter @jgoodeHN

FALL RIVER — Foxwoods Resort Casino and the investment group Crossroads Massachusetts LLC are looking to build a destination resort casino in the city after a failed attempt in Milford, Fall River Mayor Will Flanagan said Monday.

"We are ready to go," said Flanagan, "we just need a site."

Flanagan said the casino developers would invest $750 million in the project, which would include a 140,000-square-foot gambling floor, approximately 20 restaurants, a 350-room hotel, a "name brand" shopping mall, an entertainment arena, a convention center and spa.

The investment, Flanagan said, will create 3,000 to 5,000 jobs.

In November, Milford voters soundly voted against plans to build a $1 billion resort casino in their town. Flanagan said the day after that vote he received a call from David Nunes, the chief operating officer of Foxwoods Massachusetts.

After that call, Flanagan and members of his administration met with Nunes and Foxwoods CEO Scott Butera, he said. At the meeting they agreed to move forward with plans to locate a smaller scale casino and look at possible sites in the city.

Flanagan will officially announce Foxwoods' interest building in the city during a press conference with Butera and Nunes on Tuesday morning. The casino developers have already looked at several sites in the city, Flanagan said, that could possibly sustain the development that requires 30 to 70 acres, although no location has been identified.

Flanagan and the Foxwoods officials will also announce the formation of a site selection committee, with appointees including Robert Mellion, president of the Fall River Area Chamber of Commerce & Industry; Ken Fiola, vice president of the Fall River Office of Economic Development; Jack Sbrega, president of Bristol Community College; Joseph Camara, City Council president; Joseph Viena, director of the Fall River Career Center; and Carl Garcia, chairman of the Workforce Investment Board and owner of Carl's Collision Center.

"Our goal is to have a site under agreement in the very near future," Flanagan said.

Flanagan said that bringing a casino to the city "is about job creation."

"My mission is that all jobs be Fall River preference and priority, so all city residents have first access at these jobs," Flanagan said.

Flanagan said he has two sites in mind at this time, one on the waterfront and one that is not, although no offers have been made on the properties.

Once Foxwoods secures a site for a casino, Flanagan said, the issue will go to the voters as a ballot question, which he predicted will get overwhelming support. He said he wants it to go before the voters as soon as possible.

Next, Foxwoods and its investors will negotiate a host community agreement with the city, Flanagan said.

In November, the state's Gaming Commission gave a "positive determination of suitability" to Foxwoods to run a casino in Massachusetts. The gambling company would be seeking a commercial license to operate the casino in southeastern Massachusetts, known as Region C.

Foxwoods was given the positive determination despite declining slot revenues at its Connecticut casino, owned by the Mashantucket Pequot tribe.

The casino conglomerate reported a nearly 15 percent decline in December to $37.6 million compared to $44.2 million in December 2012.

Unless a new qualifier joins the Foxwoods-led group, said Michael Sangalang, spokesman for the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, the corporation will maintain its positive suitability determination.

This isn't Flanagan's first attempt at bringing a casino to Fall River.

In 2010, through the Redevelopment Authority and FROED, Flanagan had a conditional deal to sell 300 acres in the biopark off Route 24 to the the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah).

That deal fell apart because the state had not yet legalized gambling and a taxpayer group won a court injunction to stop the sale.

The Mashpee Wampanoag have proposed a $1 billion resort casino in Taunton, but face a number of obstacles, including a required land-in-trust designation from the federal government.

In April, the Gaming Commission adopted a plan to open the southeastern part of the state to commercial developers while still providing the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe the ability to move ahead.

If Foxwoods secures a site in Fall River and succeeds in sending a referendum to voters, it will be the second company pursuing a commercial application in southeastern Massachusetts.

KG Urban Enterprises has filed a preliminary application in New Bedford and recently lost a lawsuit against the state in U.S. District Court, claiming it is unconstitutional for the gaming commission to give preference to Indian tribes.

[View the story "A casino in Fall River? Cheers, fears and yawns" on Storify]